Jim Boeheim trusted Kaleb Joseph enough to keep him on the floor for 32 minutes on Sunday night.

It was a stark change from the past two games, when Joseph sat with the game on the line. Syracuse’s 70-57 win against Florida State wasn’t nearly as close of a game as the Orange’s first two conference matchups, but Joseph helped make it a comfortable win.

SU won in part because of its freshman point guard, rather than in spite of him, as Joseph showed signs of growth in a five-point, seven-assist outing against the Seminoles. Joseph turned the ball over just once and chipped in a pair of steals as Syracuse (12-4, 3-0 Atlantic Coast) played its most complete offensive game of the season.

The next step for Joseph would be developing into a threat of his own, and he’ll get a chance Tuesday at 8 p.m. against Wake Forest (9-8, 1-3) in the Carrier Dome during Syracuse’s first game without forward Chris McCullough.

“You don’t want to be in attack mode 24/7 because that may not be what this team needs all the time,” Joseph said. “Like (Sunday) if I was in attack mode 24/7 we wouldn’t have found (Trevor Cooney) for a lot of scoring opportunities. So it’s just about balancing out your game and trying to do what’s best for the team in the specific game.”

While keeping the SU offense in a steady rotation, Joseph also passed up open shots.

He went 1-of-4 from the field, scoring a layup off a fast-break feed from Cooney with 10:30 to play in the first half. After an eight-minute break, Joseph then played the rest of the game.

Cooney, SU’s shooting guard, said the point guard is getting more comfortable in the offense.

“I think he’s realizing that he can make plays and go off the dribble and find the right person,” Cooney said, “I think he’s just doing it more.”

Most importantly, though, the freshman was trusted in the game’s tightest moments.

Joseph wasn’t forced out of the game with foul trouble — like he was in a 68-66 win against Virginia Tech on Jan. 3. And he wasn’t passive — like he was in a 25-minute, two-shot showing in SU’s 46-45 win over Georgia Tech on Wednesday.

He said his confidence didn’t vary after the GT game and hasn’t changed with his performance against Florida State, either.

“I think I’m just seeing things that I didn’t see before, listening to the coaching staff, trying to develop as a player,” Joseph said. “And I think the more I listen and try to embrace everything and take it in like a sponge, the better I’ll be.”

And though Joseph is looking to become more of a scoring threat himself, he reiterated that he sometimes has to pass up a good shot to get off a better one.

“I think his floor game is good,” Boeheim said. “I think he’s just got to find that spot where he can make his play. He’s close. I think he’s much better, his defense has been much better.”

Published on January 13, 2015 at 12:10 am

Contact Jacob: jmklinge@syr.edu | @Jacob_Klinger_